UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO - Colorado Buffaloes

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOFounded in 1876 at the foot ofthe Flatirons, over 141 years hastransformed the University of Coloradofrom a lone building on a bleak,windswept hill to one of the nation’sleading public research institutions.Established in 1861, the University wasformally founded in 1876, the yearColorado became a state.The Boulder campus encompassesover 1,100 acres on the main campusin the heart of town, east campus(which includes a research park),south campus, Williams Village and theMountain Research Station north ofnearby Nederland (which supportsecology, chemistry and geology).While over 32,000 students areeducated on the Boulder campus,another 30,000-plus study at theUniversity of Colorado at Denver, theUniversity of Colorado AnschutzCampus (Aurora) and the University ofColorado at Colorado Springs. Nineelected Regents and President BruceBenson lead the four-campus system,while each campus has a Chancellorwho serves as the chief academic andadministrative officer. Dr. PhilDiStefano is in his ninth year as thechancellor of the Boulder campus.Robert Redford and Chris Meloni, the latter starring for years onLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit, the creators of South Park, TreyParker and Matt Stone, and Philip Bailey, co-founder of the popularmusic group Earth, Wind & Fire.Students can enter any of 10 schools and colleges offering morethan 3,900 courses in 150 fields, representing a full range ofdisciplines in the humanities, social sciences, physical andbiological sciences, the fine and performing arts, and theprofessions. CU-Boulder is regularly ranked among the best of theUnited States’ public universities by the Fiske Guide to Colleges,and a 2010 USA Today/Princeton Review survey rated theUniversity of Colorado as the fifth-best value among Americanpublic colleges. CU was recently ranked as the No. 33 university inthe world by the Times Higher Education.If the aphorism, “Somewhere between the Rockies and reality,”seems too good to believe, then come for a visit. Start with a walkon the historic Pearl Street Mall, a downtown pedestrian mall thatis the ceremonial heart of the city. Visitors may be so taken in bythe scenery they may not realize the University that put it alltogether. From Pearl, Broadway leads directly onto campus wherethe University of Colorado Museum and the CU Heritage Center, inthe original Old Main building, both introduce the University’s pastand present. The hub of campus activity can be found at both theUniversity Memorial Center (UMC) and the Center for Community(C4C). The ATLAS building is one of the most state-of-the-artstructures on any college campus.CU-Boulder has played a major role in NASA space programs,designing and building many scientific instruments flown in outerspace, and graduated 17 men and women who became astronauts,including the late Jack Swigert, one of the three astronauts in thecrippled Apollo 13 mission who made it back to Earth safely fromthe moon. When the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in1990, it was carrying seven major instruments, including a highresolution spectrograph to study the evolution of stars anddesigned and built by an international science team led byastronomer Jack Brandt of CU-Boulder. Since Hubble has beendeployed, CU-Boulder faculty and students have been among thetop users of Hubble of any institution in the world. CU- Boulder isthe only university in the country where undergraduate studentshave operated a NASA satellite.Take in the fresh mountain air on any part of 100 miles of trailsand 30,000 acres of open space. Climb the Flatirons or in EldoradoCanyon State Park. Swim or board sail at the Boulder Reservoirwhile elite runners sprint around it. Take in a pro sporting eventdown the road in Denver, just one of 13 cities with teams in all fourpro leagues.“The University of Colorado, and Boulder, is a town which stopswhere the Rocky Mountains begin. Normally in America such asuperb site would be occupied by a golf course, but somebodygoofed and instead they built what may be the most beautifullysituated campus in the world if anyone asks you to Boulder, Ihave one word of advice: ‘Go.’ ”— From London’s Observer Magazine article,“Us and Them,” by Simon Hoggart (April 23, 1989)The University has produced 19 Rhodes Scholars, five of whichwere former football student-athletes at CU, with Jim Hansen themost recent recipient in 1992. Faculty member Thomas Cech, adistinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, won the1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Other notable alumni other thanathletes include former United States Supreme Court Justice Byron“Whizzer” White, former big band leader Glenn Miller and actors3

President bruce BensonBruce D. Benson is in his 10th year aspresident of the University of Colorado,as he was named to the position inMarch 2008. Since taking the helm of hisalma mater, he has enhanced CU’sstanding as one of the nation’s leadingteaching and research universities,advancing the economy, health andculture of Colorado and beyond.The 21st president in the history ofthe university, he has now served thefifth-longest of the group, and is thelongest-serving CU president sinceRobert L. Stearns held the post for thebetter part of 15 years (1939-53) wellover 60 years ago.During Benson’s tenure, CU’s research funding has reached recordlevels, including its best showing of 994 million in 2016-17, supportingthe university’s research strengths in biotechnology, health care,energy and aerospace engineering. He has led efforts to promote crosscampus collaboration that have resulted in cooperative academicprograms and research initiatives, most notably CU’s BiofrontiersInstitute, led by Nobel laureate Tom Cech.CU has broken records for fundraising in eight consecutive years(including a record 386.3 million in 2016-17) under his leadership.Benson and his wife, Marcy, chaired CU’s 1.5 billion Creating Futuresfundraising campaign, which surpassed its goal in November 2013. Thecampaign, the largest in university history, supported scholarships,academic enhancements (endowed faculty positions, programs),research projects and capital improvements across CU’s campuses.Benson, 79, has guided efforts to institute operational efficiencies,cut bureaucracy and improve business practices at the university. CUhas secured legislation over the past nine sessions of the ColoradoGeneral Assembly that has allowed it to save millions annually in areassuch as procurement, insurance and construction. He has alsoestablished a number of public-private partnerships to make theuniversity more entrepreneurial and meet the needs of businesses inColorado and across the country.He oversees a system with four campuses (Boulder, ColoradoSprings, Denver, and the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora) with atotal enrollment of 63,202. During his tenure, CU’s four campuses haveseen record enrollment. The university’s annual budget is 4.1 billion.The CU system is the third-largest employer in the state, with some35,000 employees.Before becoming CU’s president, Benson had already made hismark in business, politics, philanthropy, education and civicendeavors. He founded Bruce Mineral Group in 1965, a year afterearning his bachelor’s degree in Geology from CU.He has consistently been active in a variety of educational, civicand political endeavors, and was the Republican nominee for Coloradogovernor in 1994. Benson has received many honors recognizing hisleadership, but two are particularly notable: CU in 2004 granted him anHonorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in February 2009 he wasinducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame. In August 2016, hewas the recipient of the inaugural Courage in Education Award fromthe Steamboat Institute, as the honor is for encouraging intellectualdiversity and the free and robust exchange of ideas.He was born July 4, 1938 in Chicago, and has three children and 10grandchildren.Chancellor Phil DiStefanoDr. Philip P. DiStefano is in his ninthy e project.George implemented the department’s first-ever comprehensivestrategic plan, which has mapped CU’s immediate and long rangepurpose and goals. He also redesigned the management teams, madetough budget decisions that reduced deficits he inherited (and has sinceproduced two budget surpluses), and canvassed the state, region andnation in both friend- and fundraising.In his fourth year in the position (2016-17), 13 of CU’s 16 athleticteams were at one time or another ranked among the nation’s Top 25(including all five in the fall; skiing is a coed program with combinedrankings). Included in that group was the football team, as the Buffaloesreturned to the national rankings for the first time in 11 seasons, in partdue to George’s support of Mike MacIntyre as the program’s head coachand allowing him to follow through with his plan to bring the Buffaloesback to national prominence. All but one team competed in thepostseason, most in NCAA Championships, with football making it to abowl game for the first time in nine years and both basketball teamsgoing to their respective NIT events.Near the end of his first year, he was recognized by CU’s StudentAthlete Advisory Committee as its choice for Staff Member of the Year;no token award, the group acknowledged his attendance at most homeathletic events, regular meetings with team captains of all programs tointeract with them and receive their feedback, and willingness to meetwith any student-athlete and that his door is always open to them.George brought the most diverse background to the position thanany before him at Colorado: all five others had extensive and primarilyexclusive college athletic histories, the only exceptions being whenMarolt left CU after 10 years as ski coach to lead the U.S. Olympic skiteam before returning, and Tharp, who was a university attorney withstrong CU-Boulder campus ties. While George began and worked in thecollege athletic world for the first half of his professional career, hestepped outside that box for the second half.George is just the sixth full-time athletic director in Colorado history,following in the footsteps of Harry Carlson (1927-65), Eddie Crowder(1965-84), Bill Marolt (1984-96), Dick Tharp (1996-2004) and Mike Bohn(2005-13). Two others have bridged directors in interim capacities, JackLengyel (six months between Tharp and Bohn) and Ceal Barry (twomonths between Bohn and George).George was with the Rangers for less than three years, but saw theteam win two American League championships and compile a 243-176record (.580 winning percentage) during his time there, second-best inthe major leagues during that time frame. As the COO, he worked closelywith team president and CEO, baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan, andGeorge’s first week on the job . in 1987.6